VATICAN CITY, NOV. 2, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Evangelization and unity are two of the Church’s all-time priorities, and communication is key for both of them, according to the director of the Vatican press office.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi affirmed this on the latest edition of Vatican Television’s “Octava Dies.” The Vatican spokesman was giving an evaluation of the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, held Oct. 26-29.
The Jesuit reported that during the assembly, bold statements were made about the importance of communication. He added that, in fact, the issue of communication in the Church is before all linked to its nature and mission.
“Every reflection and every project must begin not so much with a fascination caused by the new means of communication,” he said, “but by the very nature and mission of the Church, which stems from the proclamation of the Word of God and grows as community, called in turn to proclaim.”
“Communication penetrates the whole life of the Church, the activities of her members, whether pastors or faithful,” Father Lombardi affirmed. “And, if we want the message to reach the people of our time, in particular also young people — the ‘digital natives’ — the Church’s communication must be courageously embodied in new languages; it must be able to take into account the new techniques and the new psychological attitudes.”
Unaltered but adapted
Father Lombardi cited Benedict XVI’s closing address to the plenary assembly, in which the Pope spoke of the challenge to “keep the content of the Gospel unaltered, but to make it comprehensible with instruments and ways adapted to the mentality and cultures of today.”
To achieve this, the spokesman proposed that “new technologies and media languages must be used in the global village and this must be done with all the passion and intelligence that arise from the conviction of having a precious Word to communicate; such an inexhaustible and beautiful Word that it will be able to endlessly inspire every new creative expression and give dignity to every new language.”
In this “society of communication,” the spokesman contended, “it is important that everyone in the Church be aware of this.”
